


Don't know much about the French I took but I do know that I love you

by komkommertijd



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Formula E RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Chaos, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, M/M, Relationship(s), Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-23 05:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23139952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komkommertijd/pseuds/komkommertijd
Summary: Daniel is a teacher and he should definitely not be crushing on his new colleague.Max didn't think teaching would involve beers with his co-workers on Friday evenings.Between spitballs, the shenanigans of Alex, Lando, and George, quirky colleagues and the every-day school life, love and chaos ensue.
Relationships: André Lotterer/Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel
Comments: 11
Kudos: 90





	Don't know much about the French I took but I do know that I love you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi cuties :)
> 
> It's been a while and school has been stressful lately, but I am finally back with a new story, which took me three days in total to finish. I apparently won't have school until mid-April, thanks to Corona, so I might have more time to write now. I hope you're all staying safe and healthy.
> 
> Thanks to my class for being a group of idiots (I love you guys though) and inspiring me to write this. Thanks to my physics teacher for reminding us how much of a pain we are and surviving that ruler attack and thanks to my former German language teacher and my favorite English teacher for being cool, I wouldn't have had as much fun writing this otherwise.
> 
> As always, keep in mind that English is not my first language and 6k of words might contain some grammatical issues or typos for that exact reason. I apologize for that and I'm usually trying to fix everything before I post it.
> 
> Anyways, have fun reading this now!
> 
> (Title from What A Wonderful World by Sam Cooke for people wondering)

"God, I hate teenagers so much."

Daniel sighed loudly, sinking down on the empty bar chair next to Valtteri and quietly mumbling a thank you when the other male instantly shoved a beer his way. It was the only way to celebrate surviving another month of school that actually served as a motivation to continue doing this job. Daniel stared into his glass and asked himself why the fuck he thought becoming a teacher was a good idea.

He was always good at dealing with kids, but definitely not with sweaty unmotivated teenagers who caused him back pain and made his head hurt. Sometimes he really questioned his poor life decisions. He wondered whether the students actually hated school more than he did.

"They rediscovered the magic of passing notes around in class and you really don't want to know what they write on those. I definitely didn't need to know about the weird crushes girls apparently have on us. Pictures I will never forget."

Lewis snorted next to Valtteri while Daniel rubbed his temples, still trying to get over the trauma his classes gave him.

"Mate, when did they go back to wasting paper? Can't they just use their phone in class like normal teenagers? Fucking sophomores."

Daniel loved his job, he really did. Or at least that's what he told himself everyday in front of the mirror. Most of the students didn't really share his passion for physics and he obviously understood that, it really was not everyone's favorite subject. It would be fine if they at least stayed quiet in class or studied for tests. He didn't know it was possible to screw some numbers and definitions up so badly until he taught his first high school class.

The first week after the break was always the worst, besides the last one before the break of course. No one really paid attention, everyone was busy catching up and interrupting his class by talking about the activites that happened during the weeks they spent apart, although Daniel really doubted that sixteen year olds spend more than five minutes away from their phones and they surely posted everything they did on their social media profiles anyway.

"Charles, put your phone away. Don't look at me like that, no one's lap is that interesting and we both know that."

Correcting tests was always a pain, no matter the subject, but reading through the answers some of the students came up with really hurt Daniel's head. Some were brilliant but still wrong and he could not give extra points on badly scribbled jokes and cartoons on the back of the paper, as much as he would have wanted that. Numbers were numbers, formulas were formulas and there was simply no way that a completely wrong answer could get half a point. He didn't understand what some students thought they could get away with.

Of course, there were a few who actually paid attention and participated in class, some who even managed to get As and Bs sometimes and there were people who disrupted his class but they were smart enough to still know the right answers. He just couldn't deal with the ones who had no intention to pay attention and failed miserably. Sometimes he felt bad for the students who tried and still struggled, but he was no God, although some girls apparently thought he was and he really did not want to think about that, and numbers were still numbers.

"Have you met that Verstappen guy yet? The new guy in the English department. The kids love him apparently."

Literature and grammar were really not Dan's thing, but when he shook Max's hand and introduced himself to the new teacher, he thought it might never be too late to get into it. He was young, funny and the students found him relatable. He knew stuff about sports Daniel didn't care about and all kind of slang and modern things, which made the teenagers like him even more. He seemed like the perfect teacher for a subject like English, something the students usually didn't like too much either.

It's not that Daniel was particularly old or old-fashioned, but he certainly wasn't Max. While the young teacher was still motivated and excited about teaching, Daniel already lost the will to live a few years into his fatal job career.

"Those little shits are not only wasting paper for notes now. They figured out the magic of spitballs", Sebastian groaned before he took a long sip of his beer.

"Of fucking course they did. Anyone in particular?", Lewis asked, also reaching for his beer to copy Sebastian.

"Lando, Alex, and George, obviously. Who else could it be?"

"That's fucking disgusting", Daniel interrupted the conversation, scrunching his nose and silently thanking whatever kind of higher power for the fact that he only had Alex in his physics class. The boy alone was completely fine, kind and smart and never causing any trouble, but in combination with Lando and George, he went completely nuts. Daniel felt a little disappointed sometimes, he could be so much better if he did not hang out with those idiots, but teenagers wanted to have fun and Alex didn't really seem to care too much. He was one of those students who didn't need to try hard to succeed.

"I know. I stole a meter ruler from the science department to remove that stuff from the ceiling this afternoon. I didn't want to punish our cleaning ladies", Sebastian continued, not without taking another sip of his drink and Pierre snorted next to Kimi, who was silently emptying his third glass already.

"You know, I earn the same money as you guys by playing dodge ball all day long. Also, there's no spitballs, just a bloody nose once in a while. Watch out when choosing your career I guess."

"Thanks for the helpful advice, Pierre. But I'll stick to torturing the kids with politics and economy, that's better than watching someone break a bone", Sebastian replied and once again reached for his glass.

Daniel didn't really pay any attention to them at that point anymore, his eyes stuck on Max instead who entered the bar a few minutes ago. He was sitting next to Carlos and Antonio, the three of them probably talking about their respective language classes. He seemed happy and he laughed when Antonio almost knocked over his glass, passionately talking and explaining something with both hands and desperation visible on his face.

"Stop eye-fucking your colleague, we're in public", Lewis interrupted his pathetic thoughts, laughing when Daniel turned around to defend himself.

"I was not even looking at Max, I just zoned out."

Weak, Mister Ricciardo.

"I didn't even say who I was talking about. Never mentioned a name. Just saying."

Daniel loved coming home after a long day of work, dumping his backpack by the door and throwing himself on the couch to contemplate his life for a while before he had to mark tests, respond to emails and deal with his flatmate.

"Jev told me you met someone."

That was the first thing Andre said after stumbling over Daniel's bag by the door and taking off his jacket and shoes, sitting down on the armchair and looking at his friend expectantly. Daniel groaned and turned down the volume of the tv, he wasn't really sure what he was watching anyway, before he sat up, brushed one hand through his hair and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"I never should have introduced you two."

Andre just laughed at that. He started dating Jean-Eric basically a minute after they met and they gave Daniel a massive headache most of the time. Jev was a French teacher and part of the group that met up every two weeks to drink and drown their sorrows together. In combination with Andre, he acted like the biggest idiot ever, which just fit Andre perfectly. It was a match made in heaven and Daniel regularily kicked Jev out of his, Andre's and his, flat to catch some sleep.

"Come on, we just want to help you. Is he pretty?"

"I don't have a crush on him and I will most definitely not date him, okay? He's just a new co-worker."

"Jev said that Lewis told him that you were eye-fucking that guy last week."

Daniel groaned once again and moved to lay back down, not willing to look at the smug expression on Andre's face for longer than needed right now.

"Do you guys have a fucking group chat for making fun of my imaginary love life?"

"Yeah, it's called 'Mission Get Daniel Laid'. I think Carlos started it."

Sometimes Daniel hated his co-workers.

"Sir?"

Daniel looked up from the incredibly sad test paper in front of him, putting his pen down when he looked into the eyes of Esteban Ocon, another one of his students, luckily a rather normal kid. Well, as normal as a scrawny awkward teenager could be. He looked a little nervous, so Daniel smiled at him, hoping to look less intimidating. He was never one of those extremly strict teachers, but Esteban was apparently scared of every person on this planet.

"How can I help you?", he asks, not willing to drag on the awkward silence. Esteban cleared his throat and held out a sheet of paper, handing it to Daniel and pointing to his physics grades.

"I just got the information that I might get a C in physics this year. I really fucked up, sorry, I mean I really screwed that one project up and it ruined my entire grade. I just wanted to ask whether there's a chance I could somehow fix this. Maybe I could hand in some homework or do a presentation of some sort, just, please give me a chance and I promise I will-"

"I'll give you a B, don't worry", he interupted the desperate student, still smiling and hoping that it would calm him down. "I know that this was one thing that ruined it for you and I also know what you are capable of. You worked hard and participated well in class, so I don't see why it would be a problem. I'll round it up for you and you will be good to go, I can always decide about your grade after all."

Esteban thanked him at least five times and beamed at Daniel before he left the room with a bounce in his step and Daniel smiled involuntarily.

This was one of the good things about being a teacher.

Max was staring at the empty classroom in front of him, a million thoughts running through his head at the same time. He felt a distant sting behind his temple and a wave of tiredness washing over him, the exhaustion of a long day finally getting to him. He still didn't understand how someone could misinterpret Hamlet like that when he looked back down at the paper in front of him, the black ink mixing with the red coming from his own pen and staining the white page underneath.

"How much do you regret becoming a teacher today?"

Max almost jumped at that, he wasn't really expecting anyone to enter the room. Antonio leaned against one of the tables in front of Max, smiling knowingly. Max looked back down at the paper one more time before he put a grade underneath it, one that he's not really willing to write at all, although it was well deserved, before he sighed and put the stack of paper into a folder and carefully shoved it into his backpack, putting his pen back as well. Antonio watched silently before he spoke again, with Max's attention fully back on him.

"Are you coming out for drinks today?"

Max shook his head and picked his bag up from the chair, putting it up on the desk to clear the floor for the cleaning lady.

"I think there's a massive headache coming my way and I don't want to make it worse with alcohol. Besides, I'm exhausted. Lando and George are fucking annoying."

"Alright then. Daniel will be disappointed not to see you there."

Max hated the way his heart jumped at the simple mention of his co-worker's name, but he somehow managed to not look to affected by it, instead shaking his head and following Antonio outside.

"He really won't."

"I think he will."

"Hey, Dan, could you help me? I really don't know how to get this stupid thing working", Max came into the staff room without an actual proper greeting, just throwing his electronic dictionary in Daniel's direction, who luckily reacted quick enough to catch it before it hit the ground. He took a look at the device, turned it in his hands and hummed quietly, biting on his lip while thinking about what could be wrong. When he figured it out a smile spread across his lips and he chuckled, tossing the dictionary back at Max.

"Hold on, I'll go and get some batteries for it. That should be enough to make it work."

Max blushed slightly at Daniel's statement and he really felt stupid for not figuring out that it was probably just an empty battery. He murmured a quiet thanks when Daniel left the room. Pierre lifted an eyebrow at the pathetic behavior but didn't comment on it, instead continuing to munch on some porridge that looked almost as if he had stolen it from Valtteri quietly.

Daniel returned no five minutes later, triumphantly holding up a pack of batteries in his hand. He went over to where Max sat down and took the dictionary back, changed the batteries and placed it in front of his co-worker on the table. He pressed the power button and the display lit up.

"See, no problem for a technology pro like me."

They smiled at each other awkwardly and Max apologized for being stupid, thanking Daniel once again before he focused on the papers he had to read through.

"Come on, Seb. Just like, I don't know, talk to him. He won't bite your head off, I'm sure. There's no reason to worry, right?"

"Fuck off, Ricciardo. You are literally the last person in this world who should ever give anyone relationship advice."

Daniel rolled his eyes at the reply but figured that he wasn't exactly one to talk as Seb figured out correctly. Instead, he lifted his glass and clinked it with Sebastian's before taking a long sip.

"To our pathetic love lives."

"One of my students almost killed me with a ruler today. I didn't even try to dodge it when it flew in my direction. That's what it has come to already, huh?", Daniel said when he sat down between Sebastian and Pierre, effectively shoving the politics teacher to sit on the chair next to Kimi. He ordered his usual beer and murmured something along the lines of 'you can thank me later' in Sebastian's direction, barely suppressing a chuckle when said co-worker turned slightly red.

Daniel made eye contact with Lewis at the other side of the table, smiling when the art teacher rolled his eyes at Sebastian's behavior. He wondered whether he behaved like that as well when Max was around.

But why would he?

"You know, maybe you should just talk to him and admit that you have an insanely huge crush on him. What is the worst he could do, reject you?", Pierre asked, finally coming to a halt after walking around the room for five minutes, goddamn p.e. teachers and their seemingly endless energy, turning to face Max, who groaned and hid his head behind his hands.

"Yeah, that's exactly what is going to happen. I don't know why you want to make my life even more miserable. I'm not just going to talk to him and tell him that, Pierre!"

"You're both just stupid cowards I guess. What a shame. Don't blame me if you have to die alone, Maxy."

"Fuck you too, Gasly."

"Have you talked to Daniel yet?"

Kimi didn't look up from the test tubes he was currently cleaning, but Max knew that he could not avoid finding an answer anyway. He sighed and pushed himself off the table to walk around the chemistry laboratory, stopping at the window. He looked down at the streets where cars were passing the school building, three levels below him.

Kimi didn't pressure him any further, he just waited and cleaned the test tubes.

"Obviously not, I'm not exactly willing to die of embarrassment."

"You should talk to him, it is slowly getting annoying. You two are the biggest idiots this school has ever seen and I'm including Lando, Alex, and George here."

Max sighed once again, still watching the cars go by. His head was working hard but he knew that there was no way in hell nor heaven he would ever admit his feelings to his co-worker.

"I'll talk to him if you ask Seb out."

"Already did that, we're skipping the Friday meeting at the bar to go out for dinner today."

This was enough for Max to turn around, his eyes widening at the statement. Kimi was still looking at his tubes, unbothered as always, even after dropping a bombshell like this on Max.

"When on earth did that happen?"

"Does it matter?"

"Uh, yes, of course it does."

Kimi didn't reply. Max wasn't too surprised by that, he considered himself lucky for being able to have a conversation with the chemistry teacher for more than thirty seconds most of the time.

"No, it doesn't. And now move your lazy ass out of my lab and ask your Romeo out or whatever."

"You are aware of the fact that Romeo and Juliet are not only teenagers but also dead at the end of the tragedy?"

"Yeah, that's why it's a tragedy, Max. If you don't get your shit together soon you will be dead too, don't worry."

"Are you stalking Max's Instagram again?", Daniel asked when he sat down next to Andre on the couch, a mug with hot tea in his hands and leaning over to look at the phone screen.

"Nah, it's his Snap story actually. Because unlike someone else I'm not a coward and I dare to add people on social media."

"Shut up, I hate you."

"You don't and we both know that. I'm just trying to finally get you laid dude, appreciate my efforts", Andre retorted, pulling his phone away from Daniel's curious eyes.

"It has not been that long, okay? I'm fine."

"You do realize I share an apartment with you, right?"

Daniel just grabbed his mug from the couch table again and left the living room, mumbling something to defend himself while silently agreeing with his friend.

He surely was pathetic.

"That is the most stupid plan I've ever heard, I think you're crazy."

"Yeah, everyone who chooses to spend five days of the week with teenagers is crazy, that's why we're here", was Kimi's dry reply to Antonio's comment. Carlos shook his head and laughed quietly before he moved away from the door frame to join the others in the center of the staff room.

"I mean, as long as you don't do something ridiculous like locking them up in a cabinet together it's going to be fine, right?"

Silence.

"Oh God, come on. That's your brilliant master plan? I suddenly empathize with Antonio. Even though we deal with kids all day it doesn't mean we have to behave like thirteen-year-olds as well."

"Well, Carlos. Do you have a better idea?"

The teacher in question snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest, an amused smile on his face.

"Obviously. Have you guys considered just telling Max that Daniel actually has a crush on him too?"

Carlos's question was met with silence again and a few sheepish glances from his co-workers minus Kimi, who looked as unaffected as always.

"I kind of told him. Maybe he didn't get the hint", he replied, breaking the embarrassing silence in the room. Judging from the expressions on the faces of his co-workers, Carlos was not the only one who didn't know that Kimi talked to Max. Sebastian was the only teacher who didn't seem surprised, besides Kimi himself of course.

"Oh come on, Seb, you can't be serious. That movie was simply terrible, I don't know why anyone would watch that without being forced to", Pierre started complaining the second Sebastian began recommending bad movies again.

"At least don't watch shit like that in the cinema, that's what Netflix is for", Daniel added, taking another sip of his beer while he watched Sebastian pouting and crossing his arms in front of his chest in protest with amusement.

"Actually, I have that movie on DVD. If you want you could come over someday and we could watch it together."

Daniel hadn't even realized that Max was sitting barely two chairs away from him and he swore he would have blushed if he was physically able to. The new co-worker just smiled shyly and it took a while until Daniel realized that he was waiting for a reply.

"Yeah, uh, totally. Sounds good."

He didn't see the slight disappointment on Max's face, too busy rolling his eyes at Carlos who was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Max had just ended a phone call when the door of the staff room opened and Daniel entered it, laughing at something a student was saying before he closed it behind him and smiled at Max, which definitely did not make his stomach churn.

"How's it going?", he asked, his back turned towards Max when he poured himself some coffee. There was no one else in the room though, so Max knew that this question was definitely directed at him. He shrugged, aware that Daniel couldn't see that.

"Okay, I guess. I just had to call Lando's parents because of his grades", was the easiest thing to say, because hey, I was actually daydreaming about you haha was obviously not an option.

"Not a fan of making calls, huh?"

"No, what do we have emails for? Phone calls make me anxious." Max really didn't know why he said that, but Daniel turned around with a coffee mug in his hand, leaning against the table while he smiled at Max again. It was oddly comforting this time.

"Yeah, I totally get that. I agree with you on that actually, phone calls are a pain in the ass."

No comment about the anxiety, just agreement, and understanding from Daniel. God, Max was definitely screwed.

"Lance, could you please pay attention and stop yelling in my class?"

Daniel closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, already feeling a headache form behind his forehead again at the noise in the classroom. Sometimes he really hated his job.

"Sit back down and shut up, I'm not tolerating that behavior any longer."

"But Sir, Nic won't stop fucking touching me and he's poking me with his pencil!", the student tried to defend himself, a pained look on his face.

"Nicholas, stop touching your classmate", that was definitely not something Daniel thought he would ever say to a student in his entire career, "get a girlfriend and annoy her. Or a boyfriend, I don't care, just leave Lance alone or I'm redoing the seating chart."

That earned him a collective groan from the class and some whiny complaints from the girls.

Sometimes teenagers were simply the worst.

"Fucking freshmen, fucking sex ed, fucking condoms, and bananas. I want to die", Valtteri exclaimed when he slumped down on the empty chair next to Lewis, who patted his shoulder and handed him a beer. It was the same thing every year. Valtteri hated teaching sex ed to his classes, always mentioning how he almost didn't become a biology teacher for that exact reason. Daniel gladly stuck to torturing his seniors with quantum physics and astronomy.

"You'll be fine, you're not doing it for the first time after all. Besides, it's really not that bad."

"Says the guy who grades shitty artwork on a daily basis."

Lewis just frowned at that statement, he never liked it when someone criticised his subject, but considering that Valtteri was pretty much miserable right now, he ignored it and patted his shoulder instead.

"Most of those kids know all that stuff already anyway. But I get it, condoms are no fun."

Daniel didn't know why his statement made Max choke on his beer.

"Hey, Daniel, do you have a second?"

He hated the way Max's voice alone made his heart skip a beat. He decided to swallow his pathetic feelings before he turned around to face his co-worker, flashing him a quick smile. Max looked almost shy when he smiled back and no one should be allowed to be that cute.

"Hey, I just wanted to ask you some things about this new student, Nyck de Vries. He's in your class, right?"

Daniel couldn't do anything but nod, which was enough to keep Max talking.

"He's not causing you any trouble, right? I'm supposed to help him with getting settled here."

Max looked genuinely worried about the new student and Daniel was really not that good at comforting people, he never knew how to comfort crying students after handing back tests either, so he just smiled as he always did. He almost missed the way Max relaxed at the gesture. Almost.

"Nah, he's doing just fine and he seems to get along with the other students. He's actually pretty good at physics too, so nothing to worry about. But we should try to keep him away from the chaos trio, right?"

Max laughed at the question and Daniel realized once again that making Max laugh was one of the best things about his job nowadays.

"Yeah, that's definitely a good idea."

"That idea is terrible, Andre."

"It's really not. It's brilliant, in fact."

Jean-Eric simply sighed next to him, well aware of the fact that arguing with his boyfriend was pointless. He kept quiet and let Andre talk, staring at the ceiling of the dark bedroom and questioning why on earth his colleagues and his boyfriend decided that they had to collectively babysit Daniel Ricciardo. And get him laid, apparently, judging from the name of their group chat. Jev left it twice before, which didn't end well for him in the end.

"So basically what you're saying is that I should convince Max to go out for dinner with me. How the fuck is that supposed to work. It's not exactly a secret that we're dating, you know?"

"Just tell him you need to talk to him about Daniel in an environment far away from nosy teens. I bet he'll agree."

"I hate you so much sometimes."

Andre just snorted, yawning against his boyfriend's shoulder.

"You obviously don't."

"Max? Max. Listen to me you little shit."

Kimi really regretted being friendly to the new guy now, trying to fight his stubbornness. Sebastian would probably kill him or let him sleep on the couch if he didn't talk to Max, he didn't know which one was worse actually, so there was no way to just drop the topic and try again on another day. He sighed and rubbed his temples. Sometimes his colleagues were worse than freshmen. Horny awkward freshmen in love to be precise. Kimi hated his job.

"Max. You fucking idiot. Daniel has a crush on you. Stop staring at me like I just figured out the universe, I'm not lying to you. Don't tell me you're actually too blind to notice the way he looks at you. It made me gag more than once and trust me, I work with teenagers, I see disgusting shit every single day."

Max groaned, dropping his head to rest on top of his worn-looking copy of Hamlet, mumbling something about his life being a joke and a pathetic one at that. Kimi simply rolled his eyes and hit the back of Max's head with a chemistry workbook.

"You egg."

"Hey Max, what are you doing here?"

Max did not expect to meet Daniel at all on this hectic Friday, he had not seen him at school and Jev asked him to go out and eat dinner together, so Max skipped the beers and went straight to the restaurant instead. It was a little weird at first, for he wasn't all too close to Jev, but he figured he could need some distraction. He really didn't think that Daniel would show up, smiling at him.

"I'm actually out for dinner with Jean-Eric, he should be here soon."

"Oh, sounds nice. Andre invited me here for a flatmate dinner so- wait", Daniel stopped his explanation, his eyes going wide with panic and amusement and annoyance and something Max couldn't really identify at the same time and there was a flash of horror on his face before he laughed.

"Those assholes really set this up, huh? They're not coming and they invited us here to go on a date without them, just like fucking children."

At the mention of the word date, Max's heart skipped a beat and as mad as he was at Jev at that moment, he remembered Kimi's words. He took a deep breath and smiled at Daniel who sat down opposite of him, sighing quietly.

"I mean, I'm glad they helped. I'd really like to go on this date with you, actually."

Daniel looked insecure for a second but then he gave Max a shy smile, his cheeks turning a light shade of red. He carefully reached out to grab Max's hand, gently squeezing it before letting go again. Max swore he never reacted faster than he did now, pulling Daniel's hand back to lace their fingers together.

"Yeah, me too. Besides, we still have to watch that stupid movie."

"Mister Ricciardo, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation."

When Daniel turned around, he was looking right at -

a student he definitely taught at some point but really can't remember the name of. He didn't think he could, his mind still occupied by Max who was watching the interaction that ended their conversation with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Daniel simply smiled.

"It's alright, how can I help you...?"

"Mitch", the student replied dryly. Right. Mitch Evans. Daniel knew that this was a familiar face.

"Mister Vettel asked me to find you, he wants to see you", the student continued, not waiting for an explanation from Daniel. The teacher turned back to look at Max, who smiled as if to reassure him that they could continue their conversation later, which was all he needed to follow Mitch.

"Why are you accompanying me anyway? I'm sure I can deal with Seb- Mister Vettel on my own."

"He promised me chocolate if I could find you."

Ah yes, sweets, The blackmail drug of students. Mitch scurried off as soon as he held the chocolate bar in his hands, thanking Sebastian before he left the teachers alone. Daniel watched the interaction quietly, smiling and shaking his head at the student. When he was gone, Daniel turned back to look at Sebastian, lifting an eyebrow in question.

"So, what do you want from me?"

"Nothing, I just figured you would forget to attend the monthly morning meeting. Again."

Oh shit. Right.

Daniel simply sighed and walked past Sebastian, entering the assembly hall to find an empty seat in the area where the science teachers usually sat, sinking down on a chair between Kimi and Valtteri in the end. He never liked the monthly morning meetings, or M Cubed as he liked to call it, so his mind drifted off pretty soon, his eyes finding a familiar person in the language department.

"Hey, Maxy?", Daniel asked right before his co-worker could leave the staff room to go home after another long week of work. He didn't know how to approach Max before, struggling to talk to him for the past thirty minutes. When the English teacher wished everyone a nice weekend and opened the door to walk out, Daniel stood up before he could think about it. He could not let him leave like that again. Max turned around immediately, maybe a little bit too fast for his own liking, judging by the red tint on his cheeks, to look at Daniel, waiting for him to talk so he could finally start his weekend.

"Do you maybe want to come over to hang out tonight? Andre's staying at Jev's place and I could use some company."

If Max's cheeks weren't red before, they definitely were now. He nodded quickly and Daniel felt his heart jump at the agreement. Behind Max's back, Pierre and Antonio were giving him a thumbs up. He hated his colleagues just a tiny little bit.

"Alright, I'll send you my address then. See you later?"

"Yeah, see you", Max replied, smiling shyly before he waved awkwardly, turning around to actually leave the room now. Daniel could not see the way his smile grew brighter with every light step he took. He turned back around as well to pack his bag, gathering his papers from the table and shoving them into a folder.

"Alrighty, time to get out of this goddamn hellhole. I'll see you guys on Monday."

Max was sitting on one of the tables with his legs crossed, which was usually the worst thing someone could do in the physics room, besides eating and drinking, of course, reading out the answer key to Daniel, who was correcting a test. It was the easiest way to speed things up and the earlier they were done, the earlier they could leave, which then again would benefit their date night. It was simpler maths than what Daniel's juniors had to deal with for sure.

"Are you ever tempted to only put As for correct answers on a quiz just to watch the kids panic?", Daniel asked, making Max chuckle on the table.

"That would be a little too mean, right? I once put ABCD and repeated it though, it was fun to correct that. I think someone got an A just because they figured it out, not because they actually read the book. But I guess I put a lot of Ds as answers and I'm pretty sure Charles told me that Jev's favorite letter is A. So whenever the students don't know the answer, they usually go for that specific letter. Sometimes it works."

Daniel let Max ramble on for another minute, nodding and humming and laughing to signal that he was still paying attention to what he was saying. He didn't think he could ever tear his attention away from Max anyway.

It was summer and warm in the city and Max was tired when he sat down on the empty chair between Daniel and Carlos, exhausted by the events of the past five days. Daniel wordlessly handed him a glass. They all clinked their glasses together, cheerful at the thought of summer break only being two weeks away, the second term almost over now. Max watched the other ones quietly, the way Seb, Lewis, and Jev laughed together, discussing something that was probably irrelevant, the way Kimi and Valtteri fought over the definition of good alcohol. He watched Carlos, Antonio, and Pierre talking about something that happened in Spanish class just a few hours ago, gesturing wildly and almost knocking some glasses over.

"So Max, do you regret becoming a teacher yet?", Andre, who was finally allowed to join their group as well, asked, interrupting the young teacher's thoughts.

Max replayed all the memories in his head then. The late nights when he almost cried at the weird interpretations and opinions his students had on Macbeth, the early mornings and noisy lunch breaks. He thought of spitballs and redoing seating charts to put girls next to their crushes, he remembered the afternoons he spent cleaning classrooms with Kimi and Sebastian, the way he got so jealous of their relationship sometimes. He thought of Alex, George, and Lando, the chaos trio giving him headaches. He tried to figure out how often he had to repeat "Don't touch that" and how loud he screamed the word "quiet", tried to remember how often he almost skipped the beers just to go straight to bed and sleep the whole weekend to get away from depressing senior essays and exhausting freshmen. He thought of the smiles on the kids' faces when they got an A or any grade they considered good in English for themselves.

He smiled, leaning closer to Daniel, who absentmindedly wrapped his arm around Max's waist, and took another sip of his beer.

"Honestly? I don't regret it one bit."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for actually reading whatever this is, I hope it was somewhat enjoyable.  
> I really appreciate your support and I'm always happy to read some comments, so feel free to tell me what you think about this.  
> I'll see you soon with more content! :)


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